A New Generation
by mcrook205
Summary: 18 years has past since the marriage of Arthur and Gwen. In that time they had a daughter named Ella. This story takes place when she is this story Arthur never died. Ella is exactly like Arthur, and she has trouble seeing eye to eye with her father now that her mother has died. Follow Ella on her adventure to prove herself to Camelot and most importantly her father. Please Comment
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

Once upon a time, a long time ago, there was a man named King Arthur Pendragon and his beautiful wife, Guinevere. The couple had everything at their feet, riches, power, and their kingdom flourishing. Camelot had been at peace ever since Uther's, Arthur's father, had ended with his sudden death at the hand of an assassin. All that was missing from their perfect life was an heir to the thrown. They had tried so hard to conceive a baby but nothing worked. Medicines, special herbs, everything had no affect on Guinevere, until on one magical night the queen told the king that she was finally pregnant. Nine months later the queen gave birth to a beautiful little baby girl. They named her Ella Pendragon. She was perfect and all they ever needed. The King and Queen were thrilled and now Camelot had an heir.

**I**

***16 years later*******

As the sun streamed in through the velvet royal red curtains, Ella gripped her eyes shut. The last thing that she wanted to do was wake up from the dream she had. She could hear the bird singing through her stained glass window across the room from her bed.

"Good Morning My Lady!" exclaimed Lily, Ella's chambermaid.

"No. I was having that dream again Lily. Do you think it means something? I have been having it for days now." Ella asked while slowly sitting up to the huge breakfast that Lily had prepared for her.

"To be honest I do not know. You should go to Merlin about it. He would know, he knows everything!"

"No. Yes he knows everything but he also tells my father everything. And this is something that he does not need to know." Said Ella.

" What exactly is happening in this dream of yours that your father doesn't need to know?"

"It's nothing that should harm him or worry him. I think. I keep dreaming about this ongoing war between a sorceress and Camelot. In a prophecy is says that the heir of Camelot will destroy the threat, but every time I try to figure out how I am suppose to do that, I wake up." Ella said realizing that Lily looked really worried. "Listen Lily, you cannot tell anyone about this! I mean it. My father will just make matters worse between us. Thinking that my dreams are a waste of his time and instead I should be training the knights and exploring the land."

"Even though that maybe true, the King loves you. He just has a funny way of showing it. You are the princess, my lady, you are suppose to be doing all of those duties anyway." Lily tells Ella, who is looking disappointed at her opinion. "But, you should also be doing that make you happy." Ella took this into a lot of thought as she finished her breakfast and started to get dressed into her everyday wear. Wearing a dark brown cotton shirt with her black pants and her favorite pair of boots that she wore whenever she could. Her long blonde hair that reached down half of her back was pulled up in a ponytail. She was ready to go out and go on her daily ride through the forest.

Ella walked down to the stables where she would meet the only friend in the world who

Would never judge her, the one friend who knows how she is feeling and knows what to do to make her laugh; her copper brown stallion, Penny. Penny went everywhere with Ella. On every adventure Ella had never been on, she was never alone because she had her best friend. As she was running down to greet Penny, Ella ran into something. She thought she ran into another stable door, but when she looked up, she saw this very dashing boy. His eyes met hers as she lifted her head; bright deep blue pools. Like the lake her family always goes to during the holidays. His hair fell just before his eyes, the same dirty blonde as her father's. She would have remembered if she had ever met him before. The boy apologized over and over again to Ella.

"I'm so sorry. I should have been paying more attention!" He kept saying when trying to help Ella get back on her feet.

"Its fine. Don't worry about it. I should have been looking too. Are you alright?" Ella replied.

" I'm fine, that was a pretty hard hit. Looks like you are in a hurry to go do something. Where are you going?" He asked. Blushing, Ella couldn't help but find she was flirting with this boy. "I am going out to ride to someplace new today. I don't know where that is but I will find out when I get there."

"Sounds adventurous. Oh, my name is Tristan. I'm new here, I used to live in Eledor I came to Camelot in search of work. Luckily I found a job working the stables, it's not much but I love horses so it's good." He said. Ella had not even introduced herself yet but she knew that if he is new and has not yet mentioned her being a princess, she wouldn't tell him. "Do you want to join me?"

"I have a job that I must do, I could get in so much trouble if I leave." Tristan replied.

"Don't worry about it, you wont get in trouble." Ella said to him as she slowly walked down to Penny's stall. "I suppose a ride would not hurt." Tristan said.

As she prepared Penny for the long journey she would always keep an eye on Tristan, she could not take her eyes off of him. She was surprised that he was not a knight because he was built like one. She could see his biceps through his loose white shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to just below his elbow. He was wearing expensive riding pants. She knew this because her father supplied the stables with riding gear every year for everyone that works there, along with the riding boots.

"You ready to go?" Startled by what he just asked, she broke out of her daze and replied saying, "Sure I'm so ready to get out of here." They were soon off and riding out of the citadel. Ella got lost in thought as she took down ponytail and let her hair fly in the wind. Before she knew it Tristan was racing her towards a gap shining through the woods. Penny's last stride before hitting the light, Ella noticed that she was leaving the borders of Camelot. Tristan and Ella were now in the only known enemy of her father's, Odin. Ella had heard stories about her father being challenged to a duel by Odin's son. As any challenge goes, it was to the death. Her father killed his son and now Odin has been trying to kill Arthur or harm him anyway possible. As soon as she realized it, she pulled as hard as she could on Penny's reins. She yelled for

Tristan who was riding not that much ahead of her. Ella slid off of Penny and ducked into a cave that lied behind a lake. As she heard Tristan approach the cave, Ella tugged on his shirt so forcefully she almost ripped the sleeve.

"Hey! What was that for? Have you found your spot yet?" He said as he turned his head observing the cave.

"No! We left the Camelot Boarders. We are now in Odin's land, we have to stay together and be extremely careful." Ella responded.

Noticing the worried look on her face, Tristan refrained from asking any more questions about what was going on. Ella knew that she had to get back over the boarder safely with Tristan and ride home as quickly as possible. Ella peaked her head out of the cave only to see two large soldiers roaming the forest. She could recognize the crest that they bore on their chests. The large wolf head, with the tongue sticking out of its mouth. Odin's patrol had found the hoof marks in the ground that were left by Ella and Tristan's horses.

"Oh no" Ella exclaimed.

"What? What's the matter? What do you see?" Tristan asked.

"Odin's men, they found the horse tracks. They are going to go looking for the intruders."

"How do you know that?" Tristan asked Ella while trying to keep the horses calm.

"There is a special crest that is on Penny's hoof. All of Camelot's horses have the crest." While Ella was trying to think of something to distract the guards, she realized that she must fight them. She turned around to Tristan telling him to stay with the horses and try to keep them quiet. Ella slowly went out of the cave and walked over towards the soldiers whose backs were turned facing the way of Camelot. She drew her sword from her belt and jabbed it into the biggest soldiers back. He went down with no altercation. As soon as she retracted her sword, she was in a duel to the death with the other soldier. '_One Welling Blow' _is what her father tells her when fighting someone. A person only needs one blow to be defeated. As the soldier lifted his sword to make his next move, Ella thrust her sword into his stomach. Continuing his swing, the soldier sliced open Ella's arm. Falling to the ground the soldier was dead. Tristan came running out of the cave to check on Ella. He started mending her arm with the bottom of his shirt that he had ripped off.

"We need to get out of here." Ella cried.

"Your injured, we have to take care of it." Tristan said while tying the cloth tightly around her arm. As she felt the pressure of the blood tightening in her arm, Ella stood up and got up onto Penny. Without thinking she started riding away. She could hear the faint screams from Tristan grow louder and louder until he was riding next to her.

"Ella what the hell happened back there? You just left me!"

"I'm sorry I didn't know what I was doing! I kept thinking that we needed to get out of there." Ella cried.

"Look Ella, we are safe now, we are safely within Camelot's boarders.

Why are you so worried? I thought that nothing scared you!" He exclaimed.

"It's nothing, ok?" Ella said to Tristan as she gained speed and pulled in front of him. As she rode away, Ella noticed that Tristan was really worried about her. He was a genuine guy she didn't expect him not to be, but after the amazing day that they had she was still shaken up a lot. When they were finally in sight of Camelot, Ella stopped to catch her breath. If her father or anyone else found out what happened today she would be in huge trouble. While Penny was eating the fresh green grass, Ella and Tristan just starred at the castle walls.

"I never want to go back in." Ella whispered.

"Why not, Camelot is the best kingdom out of all five. It not only cares about its king, but it cares about its people. The King always thinks about what benefits Camelot and its people. The taxes are a lot more reasonable than anything I have ever seen. You should be thankful you live there."

"I am thankful. Camelot has always been my home, but my mother and father always expect so much from me. Sometimes I feel so trapped. Like I can't catch my breath no matter how hard I try. I do everything I can to prove to my father that I am…" Ella realized what she was about to say to Tristan. After today she learned that Tristan couldn't find out who she is, not yet anyway.

Riding into the citadel, Ella realized that her father was standing out in the middle of the courtyard. As fast as could she quickly said goodbye to Tristan and told him that she would come back to the stables really soon. When Ella got in Arthur's sight, Arthur ran over to her and gave her a hug, a hug that Ella could never forget, mainly because he never hugs her.

"Ella! Where the hell have you been? I have been looking for you for hours. No one knew where you went. I sent search parties to go look for you." Arthur said. Ella could detect from his tone of voice that he was genuinely worried about her. Never in her life has her father ever been worried about her. She kept thinking why was this time any different?

"Father I was riding, like I do everyday. I got lost." Ella told Arthur, realizing that she made a terrible mistake by telling him a lie. Ella had never been a good liar. Of course she had never lied to her parents before. After her mother died when she was little, she told her father mostly everything. Whenever he asked of course. She always told Arthur what he always wanted to know. But something about this time was different. "Father what is wrong? Is everything okay?" Ella asked.

"No. Several patrols keep returning saying they have heard reports of Morgana roaming the boarders. Another patrol saw the murder of two of Odin's guards right on our boarder. Two Camelot soldiers must have killed them, they could start a war." As Ella heard these words, her heart dropped ten thousand leagues. She couldn't believe that she could possibly start a war between these two kingdoms. Ella's heart was racing a mile a minute, her head was spinning and before she knew it, she fainted.

4

4


	2. Chapter 2

**II **

Ella woke up to the sound of the early morning bell that rang in the tallest tower of the castle. She woke up in a daze; confused about what had happened to her. Ella looked around her room to see if anyone was with her.

"Well at least I am alone for once." She told herself as she swung her legs out of her bed and rested her feet on the floor. She got dressed into her everyday outfit that consisted of her light brown cotton shirt and her black pants that gripped her legs along with her dark brown riding boots. "Let's see how much trouble I am about to get in once I attempt to leave this room." She said laughing while knowing that every time after she got hurt her father made sure that she made a complete recovery before seeing the outside world again.

Ella opened the two large wooden doors that were as high as a tree that led into the hallway out of her room. She realized that there was no one around. There were no guards standing watch by the doors of her room. The castle seemed so empty. She continued down the hallway that seemed to never end. No one was in sight. As soon as Ella stepped around a corner she collided into Merlin.

"Merlin!" Ella exclaimed.

"Ella? What are you doing out of bed? Your father will be very upset once he sees you walking around." Merlin told her as he rubbed his arm that was the main point of impact.

"Merlin where is everyone? And father should not care. I feel better I was only asleep for the night. I feel like brand new. Where are the guards? Where is my Father?" Ella asked. Noticing the worried looked on Merlin's face when she kept asking questions. She thought that she might want to refrain from a lot of questions and find out for herself what is going on.

"Ella, a patrol came back last night with a few injured knights. They are fighting for their lives with Gaius. He is doing everything he can to help them, but I do not know how much effect it is having on them. Your father was just in a counsel meeting creating battle plans with the members of the Round Table." He told her with a worried tone.

"How did this happen? Who attacked them?" Ella asked. Her mind raced with questions. She wondered if she caused this. Ella knew that she needed to find Tristan and get more information. She could not talk to her father yet; she knew that all he would do is yell at her for being out of bed.

"I have to go, I have to do something." Ella told Merlin as she ran past him and down the stairs that led out into the citadel.

"Ella! Be careful! The kingdom is in lockdown because of the attack on the guards. Do not get into trouble!" Merlin yelled behind her. He knew though that Ella would do whatever she wanted and would not listen to reason.

•••

Running through the lower town, Ella noticed the gloomy feel expressed by the people. The children were not playing like she usually saw while in town. Many carts that sold different items were closed. The town seemed empty.

"Wow. Merlin was not kidding when he said the town was in lockdown. This place looks deserted." Ella said to herself while looking around. She then came to the stables. Again, no one was to be found. She looked everywhere for Tristan. She could not find him.

'_Maybe he was told to go home because of what happened.' _Ella thought to herself when she was leaving the stables. But Ella barely knew Tristan. She realized that she did not know anything about where in Camelot he lived or anything about his family.

Ella made her way back towards the citadel. She was so confused she had no idea how to find the one person she needed to talk to the most at the moment. She knew she could not tell her father about what happened the other day in the woods. He would not understand that it happened by mistake.

•••

When Ella made it inside the citadel, she saw her father standing on the highest step that led into the castle. He was speaking to most of the Camelot Army.

"Odin has attacked us for the last time. We must fight back. Today we will ride to the Valley of Gregor and in three days fight Odin until we are victorious." Arthur shouted to the many men below him. Ella always loved the way her father talked to the knights. He knew how to connect with them on a personal level instead of talking down to them. As much as Ella and her father did not get along, she really admired and loved him. He has always been the one person who was there for her no matter what. The death of her mom affected Arthur the most and Ella knew that. Merlin had told Ella before when her and Arthur were fighting that her and Arthur are the same person. It just doesn't seem like it anymore because Arthur lost his other half. Ella knew Merlin was right, but she still has a lot of difficulty seeing eye to eye with her father.

Once Arthur had finished talking, he saw Ella beyond the men standing at the entrance of the citadel. "Ella! Have you lost your mind? What are you doing out here! I put this whole city on lockdown for a reason. We are about to be at war with one of my worst enemies. You of all people are the most at danger, Odin knows that you are my weakness. He will try and hurt you to get to me. I can not let that happen." Arthur told her as he held her by the side of her arms.

"I will be alright father. I am going back inside now. Please be careful out there, you are not the same knight as you were the many years ago that you last went into battle. I can't afford to lose you too." This was really hard for Ella to tell her father but she meant it. Arthur and Ella fought all the time but they were all they had left.

"I will be fine Ella. I promise." He replied with a smile and kissed her on the forehead. "I love you and will be back soon. I will write to you once there is news."

Ella walked back inside when she got up the stairs she looked out the stained glass window that overlooked the courtyard of the citadel. She watched her father and the rest of the knights leave the gates of Camelot. All Ella could think about was her father's safety. She could not stop thinking about the fact that she was the reason that this war was starting.

"I could really use your help right now mother." Ella said as she looked up towards the ceiling.

After Gwen died about three years ago from an illness, Arthur put more pressure on Ella than ever to be the best. She worked hard and trained the knights but she was only a teenager. The thing that Ella missed the most about her mother was the way she could tell Arthur he was being too hard on Ella. Whenever she mentioned this, Arthur would change. He would spend more time with Ella outside of the castle. They would go riding through the forest and have picnics as a family down by the cabin where her parents would bring her in the summers to get away from Camelot. Ella had not been to the cabin since the day after her mother died. Arthur never spoke about the times when Gwen was still alive. He never talked about the great memories that Ella loved of her mother. Like how every year on her father's birthday, Gwen would wake Ella up and they would prepare breakfast for me and surprise him when he was still asleep.

"I don't know what to do. I need you" Ella said while her head was still facing the ceiling.

"We need you."


End file.
